Cardiovascular Health
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to determine whether random assignment to a mentor-mentee relationship is associated with beneficial cardiovascular health effects in both mentors and mentees.
Detailed description
Participants will be undergraduate students randomly assigned to either being in the mentor or comparison group. A second set of participants will be randomly assigned to either being in the mentee or comparison group. These participants will come from Chicago Public School elementary schools. In total, there will be 125 mentors, 125 comparators, 125 mentees, and 125 comparators. Participants will come for a laboratory visit in which cardiovascular health measures will be taken (details below). Visits will occur once at baseline (before the intervention starts), and once post-intervention. There will be a mid-point assessment of questionnaires. Participants in the intervention group will engage in one-on-one mentoring sessions (mentors together with mentees) once a week after school for the school year. Participants in the comparator group will receive written versions of all materials covered in the mentoring sessions.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALMentoring
The intervention will include one-on-one mentoring sessions held after school, focusing on coping, social relationships, and healthy lifestyles.
BEHAVIORALComparison group - written materials
Written materials from the mentoring sessions will be provided to those in the comparison group
Sponsors
Northwestern University
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
DePaul University
University of Illinois at Chicago
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
10 Years to 25 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* undergraduate students for mentors * Chicago Public School students for mentees
Exclusion criteria
\-
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Metabolic symptoms | Change in metabolic symptoms from baseline to approximately 1 year later | Metabolic symptoms per International Diabetes Federation guidelines |
| Flow-mediated vasodilation | Change in flow-mediated vasodilation from baseline to approximately 1 year later | Brachial artery diameter change |
| HOMA-IR | Change in HOMA-IR score from baseline to approximately 1 year later | Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pro-inflammatory cytokines | Change from baseline to approximately 1 year later | Standardized and averaged values of pro-inflammatory cytokines + CRP |
| Stimulated cytokine production | Change from baseline to approximately 1 year later | Standardized and averaged values of stimulated pro-inflammatory cytokines |
| Glucocorticoid sensitivity | Change from baseline to approximately 1 year later | Standardized and averaged values of cytokine production after stimulation plus addition of cortisol |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed